Subaru Outback Wilderness on track for Australia

The Subaru Outback is about to get added off-road capability and more street cred with the Wilderness version set to head to Australia.

The Wilderness will spearhead an adventure-focused push for the Subaru Outback that will include a broader range of accessories, some of which will be locally developed.

Fresh from launching the turbocharged 2023 Subaru Outback XT, which brings added grunt to the company’s largest vehicle, Subaru Australia managing director Blair Read says the Wilderness is all but a done deal.

“I believe we will get it here, yes,” says Read. “We hope to announce more on timing for Wilderness [coming to Australia].”

The Outback Wilderness gets raised suspension that increases ground clearance by 20mm to 240mm. 

There are more off-road focused Yokohama Geolandar tyres and a bash plate for added protection up front, as well as various black styling tweaks and revisions to the gearing to help with low-speed crawling.

It’s a formula Read believes will be a hit in Australia, which is why the company has been pushing for it for some time.

“People are looking for capable vehicles, they’re looking for rugged vehicles, they’re looking for a bit of personalisation,” says Read. “Wilderness would be a great competitor to some of the off-roaders on the market.”

While Subaru’s local chief says there are still some boxes to be ticked, Subaru headquarters in Japan is aware of the Australian potential for Wilderness and supportive of making it happen.

“They’ve seen the demand from the market and the voice of the customer,” says Read. “First job [for us] was to get a turbo model here to fill the gap from the six-cylinder that we lost from the previous generation.”

He said the positive early reception to the turbocharged Outback XT helped pave the way for the Wilderness.

“Wilderness would then be the next logical step in growing the Outback model plate and adding another variant to the range.”

Part of the challenge with the Wilderness has been production; it was initially an American-focused model built in the company’s left-hand drive plant at Indiana. 

With our Outbacks sourced from Japan it means ramping up the Japanese factory as well as adjusting for other subtle differences between left- and right-hand drive Outbacks.

Read says that the Wilderness would be offered as an extension to the three-tiered line-up – Outback, Sport and Touring – rather than replace any of those variants.

And it will be joined by a range of accessories, some of which are being developed locally.

“Stuff that lends to how customers want to use the vehicle, yes – we are in discussions with a few people around how that plays a role across the SUV range,” says Read.

That could be everything from bullbars and additional underbody protection to rooftop tents and recovery gear.

Along with the imminent Wilderness addition it could be the impetus required to get Outbacks venturing a bit further into the outback.

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